Forgiving Others: in the Quran and Hadith

There are many verses of the Quran talking about forgiving others. We should understand that God Himself is the most merciful and God pardons all kinds of sins. That is why God encourages us to forgive others.

[The Quran 3:134] who give to charity during the good times, as well as the bad times. They are suppressors of anger, and pardoners of the people. GOD loves the charitable.

There are many hadiths reporting Prophet Muhammad (s) was so much generous, kind and forgiving towards others. The prophet’s examples and teachings on forgiving others are indeed the great inspirations for any Muslim or anybody.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (ra) reported: I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, tell the story of a prophet who was beaten by his people and he wiped the blood from his face, saying: My Lord, forgive my people for they do not know.

Source: Sahih Bukhari 6530

Abu Huraira (ra) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Charity does not decrease wealth, no one forgives except that Allah increases his honor, and no one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except that Allah raises his status.

Source: Sahih Muslim 2588

Abdullah ibn Amr (ra) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was upon the pulpit and he said: Be merciful to others and you will receive mercy. Forgive others and Allah will forgive you.

Source: Musnad Ahmad 7001

Abu Abdullah Al-Khadali (ra) reported: I asked Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the character of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Aisha said: The Prophet was not indecent, he was not obscene, he would not shout in the markets, and he would not respond to an evil deed with an evil deed, but rather he would pardon and overlook.

Anas ibn Malik (ra) reported: I never saw a case involving legal retaliation being referred to the Messenger of Allah except that he would recommend pardoning the criminal.

Source: Sunan Abu Dawud 4497

Anas ibn Malik (ra) reported: A man came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with the killer of his relative.

The Prophet (pbuh) said: Pardon him. But the man refused.

The Prophet said: Take the blood money. But the man refused.

The Prophet said: Go and kill him, for you are like him.

Anas said: So the man let him go.

Source: Sunan An-Nasa’i 4730

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Verily, it is better for the leader to make a mistake forgiving the criminal than it is for him to make a mistake punishing the innocent.

Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhi 1424

Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) reported: A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said, “O Messenger of Allah, how many times should I pardon my servant?”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Seventy times in each day.

Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhi 1949

The above Quranic verses and ahadith confirm that the prophet (s) was indeed “Rahmatul-Lil-Alameen (mercy for all peoples).” As being the followers of the prophet Muhammad, we should also be very kind and forgiving towards others. That is the true teaching of the great religion Islam. Thank you and may God bless you.